


Let Me Be Your Girl

by LoveWithAGirl



Category: Hawaii Five-0 (2010)
Genre: Alternate Universe, F/F
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-01-24
Updated: 2017-01-24
Packaged: 2018-09-19 17:36:31
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,274
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/9452546
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/LoveWithAGirl/pseuds/LoveWithAGirl
Summary: Crushes on girls are butterflies and bruised hearts and battering rams, and Kono's been aching for years now





	

**Author's Note:**

> I love Kono Kalakaua and Catherine Rollins, and I think that in another universe they could have been so happy together. So here they are as teenagers, stumbling through feelings

When she’s 17, Kono bleaches her hair platinum blonde. Senior year is about to start, her cousin always teases that the highlights in her hair should take over from how much she surfs, and Catherine Rollins has a type.

Kono isn’t really friends with Catherine, is just acquaintances with the other girl, but she’s wanted to kiss her since she turned 14 and Catherine showed up to her beach party in a bikini. Kono had invited all her friends and told them to feel free to bring their friends too, because she wanted a full day event and an excuse to get out of family celebrations on her actual birthday. Keahu showed up halfway through the day with Catherine, and Kono could have kissed him for that, because even during Catherine’s awkward phase she was still so fucking pretty. Kono had suspected that she wasn’t straight before that day, but seeing Catherine Rollins wearing a bikini and smiling wide at her helped her definitively label herself as bisexual.

\--

The Friday before senior year starts is the first football game, and Kono goes with Chin. She jokes that it’s to support him as they watch the quarterback in Kono’s grade break her cousin’s records, but it’s blatantly obvious that she’s staring at the cheerleaders on the track instead of watching the game.

Catherine is the head cheerleader, all red lipstick and high ponytails and sweet smiles, both during a game and in the school halls. She makes plenty of people, including Kono, go weak at the knees with that signature look, and she knows it. She isn’t mean, doesn’t use it to get anything but girls, and as far as Kono can tell none of those girls are left unhappy after dating or hooking up with Catherine.

Chin isn’t rude when he gently teases her, smiles softly instead and throws his arm around her shoulders to drag her closer on the bleachers as he says that he recognizes that dopey look on her face, and Kono elbows his side but wraps her arm around his waist after. She sighs heavily and asks him how he knew that he wanted to date Malia, that it was more than physical attraction, and she can’t help but smile when her cousin’s voice gets fond as he tells her that he knew when he looked at his girlfriend and her smile made his heart speed up. Kono laughs softly and squeezes him close, thinking to herself that she’s definitely fucked, because yeah, she really wants to kiss Catherine, but lately she’s noticed that she also wants to hold her hand.

\--

Chin makes Kono take her leather jacket to the bonfire after the game. When she laughs in his face he just raises an eyebrow and smirks, telling her it has nothing to do with staying warm and everything to do with aesthetic. “Trust me, cuz, girls like leather jackets. I know I made you buy yours so you could ride on my motorcycle, but I barely ever wear mine for that reason.”

It’s a nice night, and Kono would have been fine without the jacket, but she’s glad for it, feels a little braver with it on, like it’s a costume and she can pretend she belongs here. She doesn’t usually run with this crowd, like surfing and hanging out with the beach kids during the day until the sun sets more than partying at night with the popular kids, but they’re friendly enough that she doesn’t seem out of place to anyone else but herself. It’s a small high school, and everyone at least recognizes each other, but Kono still takes a while to ease into a conversation with someone because she’s busy looking for the only reason she bothered showing up. She finally lets the quarterback, a kid she’s grown up with, stop her, smiles wide and genuine when he compliments her new hair, and reminds herself that tonight she’s going to be the new and improved version.

Kono knows she doesn’t have the curves that Catherine’s usual hookups and girlfriends have, but she’s going to use everything she does have as a weapon to get the other girl’s attention. She runs fingers through her newly blonde hair slowly and tilts her head to make sure the fire lights it up, rolls her shoulders back while she talks to Steve, sticks out a hip and tucks her free hand into her jacket pocket, and it all feels unnatural but she’s seen it work for other girls before. She declines the beer he offers but catches the water bottle he tosses to her, and that’s when she sees Catherine out of the corner of her eye. She can tell that the other girl isn’t looking over, so Kono fights her instincts and doesn’t whip her head around to stare at her crush, instead takes a deep breath, thinks what the hell, and offers Steve a crooked smile as she asks if him being the quarterback means he has an in with the cheerleading captain.

Steve makes a soft sound and looks her over once, eyes lingering on her hair before he nods and smiles slowly, telling her that of course it does. He looks over his shoulder and calls out Catherine’s name while raising his hand to get her attention, and then she’s there, the head cheerleader pressing against the quarterback’s side for a tight hug, and Kono is on the outside looking in again for a moment. It passes, though, and they both look at her, Steve’s arm draped over Catherine’s shoulders and her arm around his waist, gazes piercing like they can see right through her leather jacket bravery. Kono bites her lip and opens her mouth to greet her crush right as Catherine grins and says that she’s digging the new look, and Kono hopes that the fire isn’t bright enough to show the blush she can feel rising high on her cheeks. She shakes her hair back out of her face and crosses her fingers in her pocket that her voice comes out steady as she thanks the other girl, eyes dropping briefly to her mouth when Catherine licks her lips. The blush runs hotter down her neck when she snaps her gaze back up to see Steve smirking at her, but the other girl just hums contemplatively and smiles slowly.

“So what brought on the new hair color, anyway?” Kono is slightly regretting showing Steve her hand, because he knows the answer to that question and clearly wants her to admit it to Catherine, but she isn’t brave (or stupid) enough to do that yet. Instead she shrugs and grins at the two of them, voice light and steady.

“New year, new me. Might as well change it up for our last year, you know?” Steve is still smirking, not necessarily mean but instead like he knows everything about her, but Catherine just nods and seems to take it at face value. “Besides, I’ve, uh, always wanted to try some kind of drastic change, I can’t get a tattoo yet, and body piercings aren’t worth the healing time considering how much I surf.” Catherine smiles at that, and Kono loses her breath at how beautiful it is.

“I totally understand. I’m lucky I never got into surfing, because it would have been a pain to wait for this to heal,” and Kono has never been more grateful for crop tops as she follows Catherine’s hand to look at her navel piercing. She’s careful only to glance at it, doesn’t stare at her abs like she did during the football game but quickly looks back up at her face, and Catherine looks a little more contemplative as she lets go of Steve to step closer, reaching out to briefly tug on the edge of Kono’s jacket. “So I’m guessing you didn’t get this for the cold weather,” and Kono has to laugh with the two of them at that.

“Nah, my cousin wouldn’t take me out on his motorcycle unless I had proper protective gear. And it looks pretty badass, too, so it’s doubly useful.” Steve ducks down to murmur something into Catherine’s ear, and he winks at Kono as his friend’s cheeks turn pink. The other girl’s smile turns sly, even with the faint blush, and Kono can’t help but swallow nervously, because she wants to know what that smile feels like against her mouth but she’s also terrified that Catherine knows how much she aches with all kinds of want every time she just looks at the cheerleader.

“Well it definitely does look badass. It’s a good look on you.” Kono know that Catherine can see the blush now, and there are butterflies in her stomach because she’s still close. She looks up briefly when Steve throws a shaka up over his friend’s shoulder, and she hates that her blush just gets worse when he winks again before heading over to someone else. “Then again, a lot of things are a good look on you.” Kono is speechless as she locks gazes with Catherine again, and the other girl looks like she knows it, smiles sweet but sure as she reaches up to tug her own hair out of its signature ponytail. “You want anything to eat? There’s a shit ton of snacks, and we can talk some more.”

She follows Catherine over to a table, swallowing hard and trying to think of anything to say that will sound cool, but the cheerleader starts a conversation about class schedules once they’re sitting on someone’s blankets with plates, and Kono’s butterflies calm down when her tongue finally unknots. She’s laughing at a story Catherine tells her she heard about the science teacher they’ll share this year when she catches Steve’s eye across the fire, and his smile for her is warm before he turns his attention back to a blonde baseball player. Kono is feeling much more at ease when Catherine suddenly rests a hand on her knee, smile sweet and voice soft when she talks. “Want to sleep over tonight? My parents always either expect me to bring friends over or stay with friends after football games, so they’ll be fine with it.”

Kono’s mouth is dry again when she looks at Catherine's dark eyes and the way the fire flickers in their reflection, but she swallows hard and curls fingers in the hem of her jacket to remind herself of the bravery she’s been trying to work up all night, takes a deep breath, and smiles wide. “Yeah, I’d like that a lot. Um, I just gotta call my parents and let them know. I mean, they were expecting me to be out all night anyway, just with my cousin instead, but they’ll be cool with this, too.” She feels all sorts of flustered, suddenly, bravery warring with the butterflies as she nervously rambles. “I’ll be right back, I’m gonna go call them now.” She feels awkward pushing herself up to stand, tries not to kick sand on Catherine as she walks away from the bonfire a bit, and then pulls out her phone.

“Howzit, cuz? You okay?” Kono feels calmer just hearing his voice, smiles against her phone because as she listens carefully she can hear him picking up his keys in case he needs to come get her.

“Yeah, Chin, I’m all good. Um, I just need a favor-Catherine invited me to sleep over, and Mom and Dad don’t know her. I think they’ll say yes, but if they ask will you say you know her and that she’s okay?” There’s her nervous ramble again, but her cousin soothes it, voice warm as he promises to cover with her parents and then teases her about her crush, but it’s when he gets serious again that Kono really feels the full wave of his love.

“I’ll leave my phone on volume tonight, okay? You call me at any point, I don’t care how late or early, if you need me to come get you. I love you, cousin, and if you need me I will be there. So yes, have fun, and I hope she returns your feelings, but just know that you can call me if you get uncomfortable at any point.” Kono can’t talk for a minute, heart feeling precariously full, and closes her eyes against sudden warmth, but when she finds her voice again she promises she knows and murmurs back that she loves him too. After hanging up she makes a much shorter call to her parents and gets their permission, and she’s still holding that warmth from Chin under her sternum when she heads back towards the fire and ends up settling on the blanket again. That warmth just grows when Catherine smiles wide in response to Kono’s confirmation that she’s allowed to spend the night, and it settles there, a soothing presence that feels like it should be shining out.

Later that night, when they’re laying on top of the blankets and carefully holding hands, Kono wearing borrowed pajamas and a smile that feels too big, after she stuttered through admitting her feelings, after Catherine had asked her out in a surprisingly shy tone, after they’d kissed and kissed and kissed some more, Kono mentions that warm feeling again. Catherine, eyes lit up by the moon, squeezes her hand and tells her that she had been glowing. Kono thinks, as she rubs her thumbs over her girlfriend’s knuckles, that she’ll probably let the blonde grow out, that she didn’t need it after all, that maybe she was Catherine Rollins’ type all on her own.

**Author's Note:**

> I'm queer, and I love writing about other queer girls. I hope you enjoyed!
> 
> And y'all should definitely come holler at me on [tumblr](https://lovewithagirl.tumblr.com/)


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